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Le Gouvernement de la Défense Nationale, or
The Government of National Defence, was the first
Government of the Third Republic of France from
September 4, 1870, to February 13, 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, formed after
the Emperor Louis Napoleon III was captured
by the Prussian army. The government,
headed by General Louis Jules Trochu, was under
Prussian siege in Paris.
Breakouts were attempted twice, but met with disaster and rising
dissatisfaction of the public. In late January the government,
having further enraged the population of Paris by crushing a
revolutionary uprising, surrendered to the Prussians. Two weeks
later, it was replaced by the new government of Adolphe Thiers,
which soon passed a variety of financial laws in an attempt to pay
reparations and thus oblige the Prussians to leave France, leading to the outbreak
of revolutions in French cities, and the ultimate creation of the
Paris
Commune.

Contents

Origins

When the Franco-Prussian War began in 1870, France was under the control of
Emperor Louis Napoleon III. A National
Assembly was based in Paris,
but its powers of fire were limited. Widespread discontent amongst
Assembly members before the war, particularly amongst Socialist members, had given Louis-Napoleon
many enemies. At the disastrous battle of Sedan,
Louis-Napoleon was captured by the Prussian Army, leaving France effectively
without a government. When news of Louis-Napoleon's capture reached
Paris, leading members of the National Assembly rushed to the Hotel de Ville to declare a new government.
At the Hotel de Ville, Léon Gambetta
publicly declared the founding of the Government of National
Defence on September 4, and the government immediately assumed
control of all affairs in France, intending to continue the war
against Prussia.

Notable
members

Despite the hopes of revolutionary, radical left-wing
politicians in Paris, the Government of National Defence was
composed almost entirely of middle-class, conservative men, who
were already Deputies on the National
Assembly representing Paris constituencies. When offered the
post of President, Jules Trochu accepted it based on the
Assembly's promise that they would "resolutely defend religion, property, and the family".

Henri Rochefort, Minister without Portfolio
(Rochefort was accepted into the government after the attempted
coup of October 31 as a show of good faith to extremist
Republicans, but resigned his position in November 1870)

The new government was almost entirely middle-class, and
citizens of Paris wondered how long the uneasy alliance between the
revolutionary left-wing Republicans and the conservative right-wing
Republicans would last. The Government of National Defence quickly
received official recognition from leading world powers in the
following days, except from Prussia. The Prussian Chancellor, Otto von
Bismarck, was concerned that the new body could not act as
France's government, as it was composed entirely of men from Paris,
without any consideration being given to the rest of France. This
was not a great concern to the Government though, as its members
intended to continue the war against Prussia.

Besieged

With most of the army captured at Sèdan, the Government of
National Defence called almost all military units from across
France, including marines, naval units, and troops on foreign
service in Rome, Algeria, and French colonies,
to aid in the defence of Paris before the Prussians reached the
city. The Government greatly increased the already formidable
fortifications around Paris and brought in vast quantities of food
from the countryside, to feed the swollen population of the city
throughout the expected siege. Having sworn in General Trochu as
President, the National Assembly left Paris and
relocated to Bordeaux.
Concerned that the rest of the country might complain about the
Parisian-dominated government, Admiral Fourichon and Gaston
Cremieux, both elderly men, were dispatched to Tours as a representative delegation on behalf of
the government in Paris. By September 20, Paris was completely
surrounded and cut off from the rest of unoccupied France. On
October 7, Léon
Gambetta left Paris by hot air balloon and arrived in the city
of Tours, from which he and his
deputy Charles de Freycinet directed the
war across unoccupied France. Although they were part of the same
national government, the governments in Paris and Tours often acted
without consulting each other, due largely to the problem of
communication between besieged Paris and the outside world. The
National Assembly in Bordeaux had very little say in government
affairs, as they had no reliable means of contacting Paris and
Gambetta did not have time to wait for the Assembly to debate
issues. As a result, Gambetta became the virtual dictator of unoccupied France
during the war.

Throughout the siege, the Government of National Defence was
reluctant to try and break out of Paris, and as the siege wore on,
the population of Paris grew more and more frustrated at the
Government. The government did in fact try to break out twice, once
in late November 1870 and once again in mid January 1871. The
"Great Sortie", beginning on the night of November 28, was a
cataclysmic disaster. Thousands of soldiers were killed and the
population of Paris, whose hopes had been raised far beyond
rationality, were shattered by the news of the sortie's defeat.
Blame was heaped upon the Government of National Defence, and
increased through December as the city's food supplies began to run
out. The population was angry that the Government was suspicious of
the National Guard based in Paris -
whilst the civilian population saw the National Guard as an
unstoppable force, the Government perceived them as a rabble of
ill-disciplined drunks who would run away at the first shot. When
the Government decided to placate civilian sentiment by using the
National Guard in the next sortie of 18 January 1871, their
suspicions were confirmed as the National Guard panicked and fled
back into Paris, provoking the civilian population to blame the
Government for being incompetent and cowardly.

End of the
Government

After the failure of the January 18th sortie, it was obvious to
the Government that they would never break out of the city. In
addition, food stocks were running dangerously low and the city was
enduring constant artillery bombardments from the Prussians,
and although the shelling was surprisingly ineffective, its
demoralising effect on Paris was severe. The Government sacked
General Trochu as Governor of Paris on January 22 (although he
remained President of the Republic) and replaced him with the
elderly General Vinoy. Jules Favre, though, held real control, and
became the de facto leader of the government. A small
revolutionary uprising on January 23 was crushed with force by the
Government of National Defence, further infuriating the population
of Paris. On January 28, 1871, Paris surrendered. Favre, on behalf
of the Government of National Defense, and Bismarck signed a
Convention on the Armistice and the Capitulation of Paris. Under
this Convention Favre agreed to humiliating terms demanded by the
Prussians, including the payment of 200 million francs idemnity
within a fortnight, over 5 billion francs in total war reparations,
and the surrender of the strong fortresses surrounding Paris. In Tours, Gambetta received the news
of the surrender by telegram on January 29, and although he
still wished to fight on, was convinced to step down by a group of
diplomats who arrived from Paris by train on February 6.

The negotiations had guaranteed national elections to create a
new French government, and on February 8 French citizens (except
those in the occupied Prussian territories) voted for a new
government. The elections returned an overwhelming number of
conservative, middle-class, rural Deputies, who set up a new seat
of government at the palace of Versailles. The new National Assembly
elected Adolphe
Thiers as Chief Executive of the new government, and
Thiers took over the position of President of France from General
Trochu on February 13. Eager to pay reparations and thus oblige
the Prussians to leave France, the new government passed a variety
of financial laws which deeply angered Parisians, leading to the
outbreak of revolutions in French cities, and the ultimate creation
of the Paris
Commune.